The invention relates to mail franking machines comprising printing wheels set to a selected franking value by a manually operated mechanism and means for totalizing the franking values and recording the total of such values.
In general, a franking machine mainly comprises a postal franking stamp-printing device comprising printing wheels and one or more totalizing counters for adding or substracting franking values. In the prior art, these two parts of the machine are of mechanical construction, the counters inter alia comprising gear systems and various mechanical components acting as a totalizer.
Mechanical counters have a number of disadvantages, inter alia: the complexity and cost of the mechanical components and the required tools; the fact that the components are not incorporated in standard units, so that the machines are difficult to adapt for different postal systems; and the inertia and fatigue rate of the components, which limits the speed attainable by the machine.
The invention aims to extend the possibilities of franking-machines, simplify their manufacture, reduce their dimensions and maintenance and enable them to operate at higher speeds.